A Shard of Hope
by carmpietri
Summary: Satoshi sacrifices his ability to be close to Daisuke in exchange for his safety. SatoshiDaisuke and strongly onesided KradDark.


Usually when Satoshi Hiwatari blacked out after trying to catch Dark, he woke up in his own bed. He was usually sore and aching, but almost always he woke up somewhere in his apartment. This morning he woke up to the soft morning light in a strange bed. The silver glow illuminated a rather spacious room with little furniture.

Hiwatari blinked and sighed. He supposed he should be used to waking up in odd places. Krad was more active at night, after all. Several times he had found himself waking up in odd places in his apartment, like in the bathtub, or under a table. Sometimes he wasn't even in his apartment. Those times Krad had not fallen asleep when they'd changed. He'd been awake, using Hiwatari's body, and all of the sudden switched, seemingly without reason, though Hiwatari noticed that Dark was often involved. He was mentioned on the news or by people nearby. It seemed that Dark would not leave him alone no matter where he went!

Hiwatari groaned and rolled over, his body protesting. He just didn't have the energy so soon after waking up. Now on his back, Hiwatari found himself staring at the slightly blurry bottom of another bed.

'A bunk bed, then.' Who did he know with a bunk bed? He wasn't ever over at his classmate's houses, so no one came to mind.

Hiwatari suddenly felt very conscious of his body. It felt much weaker this morning than usual. Had Krad taken over last night? He had met Dark, he remembered. The necklace! Did Dark get it? …He couldn't remember…. He supposed he had; Dark rarely let a target out of his sight, even when it was almost impossible to steal.

He remembered Dark being caught in a trap; a working of many nets together, supposedly unbreakable, out in the open and in an unlikely place. Dark hadn't suspected it and had fallen right into it. He'd been so close! …He'd hesitated, he remembered that much. Though Dark didn't allow it to show on his face, Hiwatari could tell he was afraid. Dark's worst fear was the loss of his freedom. He'd done everything he could to make sure he was never caught - he even went as far to integrate himself into another's DNA. Krad hadn't given the Hikari alive at the time the choice.

Hiwatari fumed at himself. He'd been too rash. He had thought about what he would've done had it been Daisuke caught, and not Dark. That one slip gave both Krad and Dark the chance they needed.

It was solely for Daisuke's sake that Hiwatari even bothered to hold back Krad. He had changed enough to know when holding him back was going to be fruitless, a waste of energy, but he had to do something. Any amount of time to allow Daisuke to escape from him was a plus. Every time Krad got out, his sole purpose was to kill Daisuke. Hiwatari had deduced long ago that the reason for this was because Krad was jealous of the attention given to Daisuke. Well, Hiwatari had thought, it was extremely unreasonable to send someone to their own personal hell and then expect affection from them.

Hiwatari was driven from his thoughts by the springs creaking above him. The bunk bed didn't sound very stable and he braced his half-awake body in case movement was necessary.

'So someone is in the top bunk…' he thought.

"KYU."

There was a muffled yelp and the springs creaked violently.

In the low light he saw a white blur fall to the floor. He blinked and then Daisuke was standing at the side of his bed. He got up on his elbows out of mild surprise.

"Daisuki, he's awake."

'Daisuki?' Hiwatari thought. 'Does it mean 'Daisuke?''

The shape shifter bent over Hiwatari and said, "Good morning, Hiwatari-kun." It smiled.

Hiwatari blinked. It could talk? How was he supposed to respond to that?

"Leave him alone, With," said a muffled voice in a sleepy drawl. "He needs to rest."

The pseudo-Daisuke nodded and vanished. Hiwatari looked over the edge of the bed and saw the creature get poised to jump. Hiwatari was expected it to jump onto the top bunk with its owner and he was surprised when the familiar jumped onto his chest. Hiwatari froze and looked at the creature, unsure of what to do. It looked back, cocking its head slightly, as though it was wondering why he hadn't responded.

"Kyu?"

"Are you bothering Hiwatari-kun, With?" A yawn. "C'mon, go wake up Towa-chan and ask her to get you some strawberries."

With started, probably at the word 'strawberries,' Hiwatari reasoned, and dashed out of the room, turning into Daisuke to open the door.

Hiwatari wondered if this was considered normal as he became aware of the rising sun. He decided to test whether he was awake enough to walk. He threw off the covers to discover he was only wearing his boxers. He glanced around the room and found his loose black pants hanging over the back of a chair, folded neatly.

Hiwatari pushed himself out of bed and onto a soft but cool carpet. He stretched and took a step forwards, thinking that he would leave before the Niwa family woke up; he didn't want to have a fuss made over him.

When he stepped foreword on his left foot, pain shot through his foot and he lost his balance, falling onto his left side. He looked down at his foot to discover it bandaged. He also noticed how the light made the white look…. He followed the light to the window where the ocean was a lovely shade of gray. What caught his attention was the tree next to the ocean. It was completely illuminated, silver in every crevice. The green of the leaves was beautifully out-lined. The sight was breathtaking, and Hiwatari decided that he must memorize it so he could paint it when he got home.

"Are you alright?" Hiwatari looked above where he had been sleeping to the upper bunk to see Daisuke, out-lined in the same sliver as the trees. He'd have to paint this as well. Perhaps, if he asked, Daisuke would even model for him; he knew he couldn't stare at this scene for long without endangering Daisuke.

Hiwatari nodded in a daze.

Daisuke cringed slightly. "Sorry about your ankle. He…er, had to."

Hiwatari looked again at the bandage. A green-and-brown yellow had started to seep though, along with red.

He looked back up at Daisuke slowly, without blinking. He should not have tried to stand yet.

Mocking laughter.

Daisuke frowned. "Are you sure you're alright? You look out of it. We didn't hurt you, did we?"

Hiwatari shook his head and swallowed. He didn't like talking in the early morning; most days it was just too difficult. "Low blood sugar, takes 'while to wake up."

"Oh! I didn't know that!" Daisuke threw off his covers and jumped fluidly to Hiwatari's side. He held out his hand to him, who took it out of politeness. "How long does it take?"

"Thirty minutes," Hiwatari said as Daisuke pulled him to his feet. Really it could take anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes, depending on what he'd been doing the night before (he worked on Dark's schedule) but he didn't feel like explaining this to Daisuke at the moment.

Daisuke looked over his shoulder – 'most likely at a clock,' Hiwatari thought - and said, "Well, there's no sense in going back to bed. Are you hungry? Maybe you'll wake up faster if we get some food into you. With should have woken Towa-chan up by now…. She'll be glad to see you again," Daisuke finished, smiling brightly.

Hiwatari didn't want to see anyone this morning, but he nodded. Daisuke took a few steps towards the door and tried to help Hiwatari along.

"Wait, my pants," he said, once again becoming aware of his state of dress. He broke away from Daisuke and hobbled to the chair.

"A'em, yes, I tried to find a pair of my pjs that would fit you, but I couldn't. Sorry."

"It's alright," Hiwatari said. He was finally starting to wake up.

"Niwa-kun, what happened last night?" he asked, grabbing his pants and carefully putting them on over his injured foot. Daisuke politely adverted his eyes while he did this.

"Um…when?"

"After Dark broke out of the 'trap.'" Hiwatari looked at Daisuke expectantly, slightly critically.

"Dark is mad at you, you know. He was complaining that you, er, 'take the fun' out of stealing when you don't go through with your threats."

"...He thinks I let him go? After all that he thinks I let him _go?_"

Daisuke nodded.

"Can he hear me?"

"Dark heard you."

"And?"

"… He thinks… that… he would have gotten away anyways…."

Hiwatari sighed and looked at the desk he was standing near. "Of course he does." He noticed his glasses sitting there, and he put them on. The room came into focus.

"Well, it isn't that, but…." Daisuke paused and looked to be listening intently. "… if you don't seriously intend on catching him, your plans show it. He says you're not serious enough and that's why he'll be able to get away." Daisuke wrinkled his nose. "Well, it makes sense to me, but that's probably because we… er, have the same mind."

"I see. Well, what happened after that?"

Daisuke swallowed. "You…turned. Dark had to use magic to get away."

Hiwatari nodded. He'd suspected as much. "And how did I get here?"

"After both of us…they…tired each other out... It was a stalemate…. I went back to see if you were alright."

Hiwatari pursed his lips; he was afraid of that. What if he had been conscious? Sure, he was able to beat back Krad sometimes, but at a great cost, and it didn't sound like he'd had the energy to do that last night. Had he slipped again, been moved by Daisuke's worry over him, Krad could have broken through, and without either of the Harada twins, it wouldn't have mattered that Krad was out of energy; Daisuke would always lose in a fight with Krad because Krad fought to kill.

"You came back for me?" Hiwatari asked, making sure of what had happened.

Daisuke nodded. "I had too. I mean, I saw Dark hurt your foot and I knew that you wouldn't be able to walk home on it."

"Niwa-kun, never come back for me."

Daisuke titled his head. "Why not?"

"Because it's too dangerous."

"I wasn't about to leave you there, Hiwatari-kun." Daisuke was glaring, as though angry that Satoshi would suggest such a thing.

The door creaked open, startling them both. With squeezed through the small creak with a few strawberries dangling out of his mouth by their leaves. He jumped onto the couch and began to eat happily.

"Well, you can't come back for me. Don't. Ever."

Daisuke crossed his arms. "What if you're really hurt?"

"It doesn't matter, stay away. Call an ambulance or tell someone," Hiwatari's voice rose in anger. "You don't understand, Daisuke," he gestured with his arms, tossing them up into the arm and bringing them down to his waist, open handed. "If you are near me when you're weak, it could be your life."

Hiwatari scowled at the look in Daisuke's eyes. He was confused and worried. He stood up straight, ignoring the ache in his foot. Daisuke had to know. If it meant letting go of their friendship, then so be it. Daisuke's safety was more important.

"You're my trigger," Hiwatari blurted before he thought better of it.

Daisuke looked bewildered. "I'm…I'm…."

"What Riku is to you." Hiwatari bit his lip. "Well, not exactly."

Daisuke gave him a confused look. "Not exactly?"

"You're the closet person to me, Niwa-kun. You are the only person close enough to be the trigger for Krad."

"So?"

Hiwatari frowned. "What do you mean, 'so?' Niwa-kun, if you try and help me, and if you're-…if I slip…."

"That's what Dark's for." Daisuke suddenly rolled his eyes and scoffed. Hiwatari doubted it was meant for him.

"Well, what if Dark can't help you?"

Daisuke shifted and uncrossed his arms. "It still doesn't matter if you're hu-…"

"Are you dea-… Please, Daisuke…just…don't…." Hiwatari turned and looked out the window. The sun had risen and the silver had turned to gold.

"I understand, Hiwatari-kun, don't think I don't. I just don't want to see you hurt. I don't like it."

Hiwatari's heart softened, and a moment later, if felt as if it had stopped. He burned, and it could only mean one thing. Hiwatari doubled up and sank to his knees, clutching his heart.

_We're so close, Satoshi-sama! So close!_

_ No, not here! Not in his house!_

_ You'll be free of me. As sad as it may be, that's what you want, isn't it?_

_ Not in exchange for Daisuke's _life!

"Hiwatari-kun!" Daisuke yelled, running forward.

"For the love of God, Daisuke, stay away!" Hiwatari's throat started to burn; that was the last sign. He couldn't stop the change from happening, but he would hold it off as long as he could.

"Hiwatari-kun…."

Blood began to pound in Hiwatari's ears and he became deaf to the world, though he heard yelling. He could have understood it had he tired, but everything went into keeping Krad out of his mind. If Krad got loose, he would probably kill every Niwa in the house. He couldn't live with the guilt of killing three or more people, and then Dark would be locked up with a madman and no one deserved to live out their worst fears, not even him.

Hands grasped Hiwatari's shoulders. He struck out at them with his free hand, swiping and hoping to claw. Wasn't Daisuke getting it! He couldn't be near him right now! He wanted to yell at him to run, but it was all he could do to breathe.

Dark's face came into his line of sight.

"You're more trouble than you're worth, Commander. You see?" Dark showed Hiwatari his clawed arm. "You drew blood."

Hiwatari's body relaxed as it recognized Daisuke's absence. Why had Daisuke changed? Was it possible that, just maybe, Daisuke felt the same?

Dark licked at the scratch. "That _hurt, _Hiwatari-kun," he said, glaring lightly and rather childishly.

Hiwatari frowned at the curious behavior and braced himself; he never let his guard down around Dark; he wasn't Daisuke. He wondered what Dark could be doing, behaving so out of the ordinary. Mocking him, perhaps?

"Well," Daisuke said from behind him. Hiwatari got into a crouch and half spun around, a movement that had become instinct. "It looks like all I need is With."

Hiwatari looked back at the place where Dark was supposed to be and had to look down. It was Daisuke's familiar that was in Dark's place, licking its paw and looking at Hiwatari in what he thought was a pout.

He was speechless. So that's what the yelling had been, he thought. …So Daisuke didn't love him back….

"I think Krad's trigger is Dark." A minute later Daisuke whispered, "oh, shut it," and Hiwatari could only imagine how Dark was protesting to that.

Hiwatari stared fixedly on the floor as he asked, _is that true?_

No answer was given.

_If it is, it's a rather selfish reason to kill._

_Love is the only reason to kill. _

Hiwatari sighed, taking that was 'yes,' and said, "you may be right, Niwa-kun."

Hiwatari suddenly thought of Krad's odd habit of abandoning his body whenever Dark was mentioned in his body's presence. What if he wasn't just angry at Dark? What if he _couldn't help it?_

"Niwa-kun, I'll have to rain check that breakfast."

Daisuke nodded as Hiwatari got to his feet. "I thought you would have anyways."

Hiwatari nodded and limped towards Daisuke, who grabbed him under one arm and around his waist. Hiwatari didn't like the arrangement, but Daisuke insisted. He thought that after today he had a huge debt to Daisuke, maybe too large to pay off.

In less than an hour he'd set Hiwatari's mind at ease and had given him hope that maybe Krad wasn't as invincible as he seemed.


End file.
